Headshot Photographer Press Release Example With 3 Easy Wins

Most of these case studies come from emails my readers send me. With their permission, I share them with the names changed. I do this so that others can learn from what worked and what didn't. Have a story of your own? Share it with me.

0 to 3outlets that covered the story
62veterans photographed in one day
4team bookings in the next 2 months

A little before seven on a Thursday morning, Joanna’s phone buzzed with a text from her sister. “You’re on Channel 9.”

She wasn’t, quite. A retired Army mechanic named Walt was, sitting on her stool in front of her grey backdrop, grinning at the camera.

That segment came from Joanna’s fourth headshot photographer press release, sent from her small studio in Albany, New York.

The first three went nowhere. Not one editor replied.

The fourth was printed in the weekly paper, picked up by a TV morning show and shared by the county veterans office.

Here’s what changed between release three and release four.

The problem

Joanna runs a one-person headshot studio in a converted shopfront.

She photographs local professionals, a few law offices and the odd actor.

She’d read that press releases were free advertising. So, over one year, she wrote three of them.

Each one went to the same general news email address at the local paper. None was printed, and nobody wrote back.

“Local Studio Celebrates Grand Opening”

The first release announced the studio. It opened with how excited Joanna was and spent two paragraphs on her equipment.

To an editor, it read exactly like an ad. Studios open every month, and none of them are news.

“Now Offering Corporate Team Packages”

The second release introduced a new service, with prices. It was useful to a business owner and of no interest to a newspaper reader.

“Holiday Headshot Specials Through December”

The third was a sale. It ended with “Book now, spots are limited!”

Looking back, Joanna laughs about that one. “I basically sent the paper a coupon and asked them to print it for free.”

The solution

A friend who worked at a radio station gave her blunt advice. Stop writing about the studio. Write about the people it helps.

Joanna started listing groups in Albany who needed a good photo and couldn’t easily pay for one.

Veterans moving into civilian jobs were near the top.

Many of them were applying for work with no recent photo of themselves out of uniform.

A date that already mattered

She planned a free headshot day for veterans on the Saturday before November 11.

Veterans Day gave the story a natural reason to run that week.

Editors were already planning coverage, and they needed local stories to fill it.

A partner with a real audience

Joanna called the county veterans service office. They loved the idea and offered a meeting room, a sign-up list and their newsletter.

Now the release had two voices. Joanna’s, and a counselor who sees veterans looking for work every single week.

A headline that said the news

The new headline left Joanna’s name out completely. “Free Headshots for Veterans Seeking Civilian Jobs, Nov. 9 in Albany.”

An editor could see the whole story in eleven words.

The process that worked

Joanna gave herself four weeks. Each week had one job.

Four weeks out, writing the headshot photographer press release

She wrote the release, using a simple shape.

Headline, one sentence with who, what, when and where, why it mattered, two quotes, the details and two lines about her studio.

The counselor checked every fact, from the room number to the time.

That shape matters, because editors can drop a clean, plain release into the paper with few changes.

Three weeks out

She found real names.

Instead of the general news inbox, she sent it to the community editor at the weekly paper and the assignment desk at Channel 9.

She pasted the release into the email instead of attaching it, and linked to three photos from an earlier session, used with permission.

Two weeks out

She sent a three-line version to every community calendar she could find, from the library to two local radio stations.

Then she sent one short follow-up to the editor. “Just checking this reached you. Happy to send more photos.”

The day itself, and the week after

Sixty-two veterans came. Walt was third in line, and he agreed to talk on camera when the TV crew arrived.

Joanna kept each session to about five minutes, with one simple pose and a quick look at the screen together.

The counselor sat at a table by the door, helping people with their job profiles while they waited.

Several veterans said that part helped as much as the photo.

Every person got one edited photo by email within three days, as the release had promised.

Joanna wanted the story and the day to match exactly.

The next week, Joanna emailed the paper one strong photo and one line.

“We photographed 62 veterans on Saturday.” They ran it as a follow-up.

Measure	Releases 1 to 3	Release 4
Outlets that covered it	0	3
Editor replies	0	2
Veterans photographed	none	62
Team bookings in the next 2 months	none	4

What we learned from here

A headshot photographer press release gets printed when the people in it matter more than the studio behind it.

Joanna’s first three releases were about her. The fourth was about Walt and sixty-one other veterans, and that made all the difference.

Part of the release	Made the paper	Made the trash
Story	Free headshots for veterans	A grand opening
Timing	The week before Veterans Day	Any old Tuesday
Voices	Joanna and a counselor	Joanna alone
Headline	The news in eleven words	“Celebrates” and “specials”
Sent to	A named editor	A general inbox